A Wet Weekend!

Friday 23rd October 2009
Arrived at the marina at 7.30pm after a reasonable drive in what was reported to be the busiest day on the roads this year.

Saturday 24th October 2009
Heavy rain and strong winds dissuaded us from venturing out in the boat. Instead we had a ride in the car over the M6 to Wolverhampton to pick up a rechargeable lantern from Go Outdoors that will make a suitable lamp for the rear deck when arriving in the dark. We paid a visit to the marina office on the way out to pay for the next 12 months moorings – not a cheap weekend; although we have benefited from the lower rate of VAT.
The intention to have an evening walk down to Great Haywood Junction was thwarted again by the weather so instead we opted to have a steak on the boat and watch a DVD in front of the stove.

Sunday 25th October 2009
Up early (assisted by the clocks going back) and after breakfast we took a drive up to Aston Marina (just south of Stone) and unsurprisingly the marina is still far from finished (although 50% of it is in water) – despite the press notifications that is was ready to receive boats. The marina, when finished, looks to have a lot of potential with a creative design and good facilities. I also observed the new opportunity for travelling boats to wind below Aston Lock, by using one of the new marina entrances. This should prove to be an excellent facility for boats not wanting to go right into Stone before turning. En-route home we chose to travel up the M6 and call in at Middlewich as there was to be a boat rally on 23rd-25th October. We parked up in Middlewich and walked the canal from the junction down to “The Big Lock” and it was clear the poor weather on the Friday and Saturday had taken its toll on boat numbers. Apart from the Fudge Boat and Ivan with his working pair there were few notable moorers. We then continued home.